This week I thought about Content Creation, as part of what we do here on Freelance Latin America’s Blog space. Content Creation is more than just articles and a blog, that’s also part of what it means. Before starting with tips on the production of content, I’d like to define Content Creation itself.
Content Creation comprises pieces of media that aim to inspire, promote, inform, or market. It can come in the form of writing (such as our blog articles), videos, and other audiovisual pieces; things you’d see on Youtube and Instagram.
Imagery can also form part of content creation—in the end, it’s everything a brand or company does, usually with marketing purposes, with the intention of forwarding their brand and reaching the consumer, so that they get to stay in their consciousness.
Know Your Audience
Part of creating effective content is crafting pieces aimed at the audience you desire to reach. Not all content, despite the form it comes in, will be of interest to everyone. The idea is to create content that will catch the attention of the specific target that you, as a brand, want to reach.
It’s an idea we find, curiously enough, in the Art of War by philosopher Sun Tzu. A very famous quote from this ancient book reads as follows:
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
Of course, this is not meant for anyone to think of the audience as the enemy. Yet the concept stands: if you know your brand, and know the target audience, then therefore you know what content you’re going to create. On the contrary, if you do not know the audience you’re trying to attract or engage, then you’re likely to lose the battle. In this case, the idea of casting a wide net is less effective than a precise strategy.
A tip to get to know who you’re going after is to create profiles or personas. These are a rough sketch of commonalities a section of your target audience shares. Their age group, jobs, and shared interests will create a picture of possible elements that you can include in your content creation to specifically cater to them.
Collection of Information
A common mistake is relying purely on your own imagination and creative motors. The best content comes from a wealth of knowledge and information. Research is key to creating engaging content. Discovering new and interesting tidbits of information, providing value in the things you write, film, record, illustrate, and everything else.
Connecting to the previous point; if said tidbits of information are linked to the interests of your target audience, then you’ve got a fair distance gained. Other strategies to buff up your information are to include different team members; people from different backgrounds and with different skill sets. This allows you to collect firsthand information from diverse sources.
They need not necessarily be team members, including guests in your content is a sure-fire way to bring interesting information to them. Also, something to always keep in mind is that good research provides good information. Collect a niche of good portals and sources, know how to get the most out of search engines, and your information will be more valuable to your audience.
Creation Itself
This point is more about the hands-on process of creating content. Whether it is writing or video making, there are considerations to keep in mind, to ensure we get the best results each time. As we talked about before: Stay true to your own brand and your target audience.
Use strong imagery and keywords, and also be sure to have your content peer-reviewed before actually posting. Having filters to correct mistakes, and iterating to improve concepts and ideas is a very good strategy to keep up the quality of your work.
Start Promoting
One thing you should never do is forget about your content just after posting. The process is not actually done, and there’s an important bit of Content Creation that does come after the content is created and actually posted or uploaded.
That’s the moment when you share it, try to get it into the right people’s screens. Start a conversation, spark up interest so it’s shared around. After the fact, be sure to check the analytics, as a form of self-given feedback, to know how your content performed and how you can improve moving forward.
Wrapping Up
There are many things you could do to improve your content creation. My recommendations are to start with the essentials, the core of your process; the before, the during, the after the facts. If you want to learn more, we handle a lot of content creation here in Freelance Latin America.
Consider hiring one of our freelancers, or enlisting one of our consultants to guide you in your process of creation!
See more articles by Paola Rodriguez
